Board of Trustees approves construction of new student resident and dining facilities

Brian Olmo | Investigative Director

The FIU Board of Trustees approved plans for the construction of a new student resident and dining facility at Modesto Maidique Campus in their Feb. 29 meeting.

The new student residence is set to be located next to Tamiami Hall with construction to commence on December 2025 and finish by June 2027. The projected cost for the project is estimated to be $185 million. 

With 816 beds, the new student residence is meant to address the university’s limited amount of on-campus housing. 

“We have very limited on-campus housing,” said Chief Financial Officer Aime Martinez.  “Only 7% or 3,814 students live on campus. We have the lowest ratio in the state university system.”

A proposal to raise student rental rates was also passed since there hasn’t been a significant rate increase in 10 years. There will be a multi-year increase of 4.7% from 2024 to 2025, 6.0% from 2025 to 2028 and 3.0% in 2029. 

The new dining facility will be located between University Towers and Lakeview Hall. It’s expected to house four to five different food venues, serve students on late nights and seat upwards of 250 students. Construction is set to begin during the 2025 Spring semester. 

Board of Trustees Chair Roger Tovar raised some concerns when it comes to the new facility’s projected revenues and its impact on the Graham Center’s revenues. 

“If you’re only going to have $2 million in revenues, it makes me question ‘Is there really a demand that is needed? I think you’re going to cannibalize some of the stuff that is going on in the Graham Center,” said Tovar. 

“Whether you guys believe that or not, I do think there is cannibalization there.”

Approval for the dining facility was predicated on removing a $2 million contingency and the finalization of anchor tenants for the property. The project will cost $12 million to build. 

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